When he wasn't hogging the limelight, displaying astounding arrogance and/or playing to the cameras he was the best ref we had. Unfortunately he got caught in the occasion to often and seemed to think he and his decisions were just as important as the actual gameplay. When he calmed down, wasn't so keen with the whistle and just got on with it he was superb.



The final moments of the 2007 Leeds vs Bradford Millennium Magic game sum him up for me. Too arrogant and caught in the moment to check the try.

Viva Steve Ganson

Whilst I'd agree he sometimes got carried away I don't blame him for not checking that try. There was no reason to check it as he hasn't had a report from his TJ's that anything was wrong plus even the Bradford players weren't claiming offside until they saw it replayed on the screen, they were still complaining about the original, wrongly awarded penalty.



It's a shame he's retired as I think he was the best ref, but hopefully he can improve the rest of the refs.

The touch judges couldn't have called it as they were behind the sticks. Anyway, i think we've lost a good ref.

My mind goes back to Cas v Widnes last May, he was by far the best man on the field! I am getting tired of refs both here and in the NRL over relying on the video ref, and it was great to see Steve rely on his own instinct and not shy away from making a call, he will definitely be missed.



Viva Steve Ganson!

Aladdy Stevo

I think there was enough, given his TJs were behind the sticks and the fact Tansey was so far ahead of the other chasers even from a wide angle, to check the offside. Poor judgement for me. And the penalty that led to the kick was also an incorrect decision. Not his best few minutes.



But all that said, probably still the best ref we had.

Why let sentiment get in the way of reality?

In truth the man has been overweight and struggled to keep up with play for around 5 years. Ganson refereed games on TV differently because of his ego and often courted controversy to enable him to be the centre of attention. The worry for me is that he is of a very similar ilk to Cummings and his arrogance will rub off on the up and coming referees as has been the case with James Child and Cummings.

He had an obvious desire to be the centre of attention and could on occasion go totally off on one but when he kept his head he was clearly amongst the best at interpreting incidents and managing the players and the game properly. He will be massively missed - does anyone know what his last game was? Has he refereed since the Hull derby?



Thaler is by some distance the best of those left and will probably get most finals over time.

On the basis that there "aren't any decent ref's", Ganson has been pretty good.

Yes, we all curse the man in the middle, which often masks our own teams failings but, the guy has done an excellent job, which most people haven't got the bottle to do.

Best ref in SL IMO. Shame.

Steve has been a good ref and got infinitely more right than wrong, though I'll never forgive him for that Millennium Stadium fiasco. For sure he made mistakes, but don't we all?